October 30

Kabul, Afghanistan: Middle: Hamid Rahimi (21-1) W TKO 7 Said Mbelwa (19-9-4). This was an ordinary fight held in an extraordinary context. German-based Rahimi, 29, now a national hero, took a couple of rounds to settle down. From the third he was in charge scoring well with his jab and right hands. Mbelwa was described as a very sporting fighter after holding Rahimi aloft after the stoppage, but that was overlooking his showboating, low blows, holding and other ruses during the bout. The fight was stopped in the seventh. Rahimi got home with a series of hard rights and the Tanzanian went back to his corner complaining of a injured shoulder (which did not prevent him holding Rahimi aloft). Rahimi wins the vacant WBO Inter-Continental title. Don’t get too excited about his record. In 2010 he lost on points to Attila Kiss who had a 9-58-3 record at the time (it’s now 10-62-3). Mbelwa, 23, also has a deceiving record. The combined records for his previous six opponents was 6-8-1. Having said that, this was a major event for Kabul (Rahimi was born there but moved to Germany with his family in 1992) and anything that seems to indicate a return to normal life for Afghanistan is encouraging.

Guachupita, Dominican Republic: Heavy: Luis Ortiz (17-0) W KO1 Jose Santos Peralta (1-3). At 33 you have to wonder why the big Cuban southpaw wastes his time with rubbish like this. All over with one punch in 144 seconds. Sooner forgotten the better. It is frightening to think that the people who run boxing in the Dominican Republic thought this was okay as a match.

Manila, Philippines: Super Bantam: Eden Sonsona (30-6) W PTS 10 Eric Rapada (15-19-7). GAB No 3 Sonsona wins but is pushed hard by unfancied Rapada. Scores 97-92 twice and 96-93. Now just one loss, to Puerto Rican Jonathan Oquendo, in his last eleven fights for the 23-year-old southpaw “Mr Showboat”. Rapada has won only one of his last five fights, but is durable with only one loss by KO/TKO.

October 31

Tokyo, Japan: Fly: Takuya Kogawa (20-2) W TKO 9 Keita Yamaguchi (8-12-1). Kogawa, 27, retains his Japanese title with a stoppage early in ninth of No 7 rated Yamaguchi. Second successful defence for Kogawa and eleventh win by KO/TKO. He lost a points verdict to Pongsaklek in a challenge for the WBC title in July 2011. That’s the only loss in his last 16 fights for WBC No 11 Kogawa. First ten round fight for 33-year-old Yamaguchi who is now 2-4 in his last six bouts.

November 1

London. England: Welter: Frankie Gavin (14-0) W PTS 12 Junior Witter (41-6-2). Welter: Ronnie Heffron (11-0) W PTS 8 Peter McDonagh (18-26). Gavin wins British title with wide unanimous decision over former WBC light welter champion Witter. It took a while for Gavin to figure out the best tactics for dealing with the clever and evasive veteran and Witter was in the fight up to the end of the fourth. From the fifth Gavin was totally in control. Witter was not letting his hands go and clowning whilst just looking to survive. It made for a messy fight with even Witter’s own corner being angry about his lack of effort and negative approach. Witter lost a point for holding in the tenth. Gavin got the win, but it was always going to be a struggle to look good in this fight. Scores 119-109, 117-110 and 117-112. The 27-year-old former World Amateur Champion has had his problems in the past but has tremendous potential. At 38 it is time for Witter to hang up his gloves. In retrospect his split decision loss to Tim Bradley in 2008 was not as bad a result as it looked at the time, but it would be a pity to see Witter just become a stepping stone for young prospects. When Heffron faced McDonagh in July he walked away with a wide points victory. This time the young prospect had his work cut out and only just took the verdict on a score of 77-76. The 22-year-old from Oldham found out just how tough a fight with McDonnell can be, but it will have been a good lesson for him. A fighter has to be on the top of his game against the 34-year-old “Connemara Kid”. Anything less and an upset is possible as McDonagh has shown in wins over Lee Purdy, Chris Sebire and Curtis Woodhouse.

Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand: Fly: Rey Migreno (18-20-3) W TKO 3 Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (87-5-2). Major shock as Father Time and an aggressive young Filipino catch up on Thai legend Pongsaklek. This was a keep busy fight with Pongsaklek defending his WBC International title in his home Province. Migreno, 26, was not even rated in the GAB top 15 ratings, but he came out determined to use his aggression to overcome the superior skills of the for WBC champion. It was expected that Pongsaklek would let the storm blow it’s self out and then take over. However he could not keep Migreno out. In the third a right hook put Pongsaklek down and, all though he got up, he took another series of punches and went down again and the fight was quickly stopped. Amazing upset as Migreno was 1-10-1 in previous visits to Thailand and Pongsaklek had stopped the Filipino in 97 seconds when they fought in 2010. Pongsaklek, 35, announced his retirement after the fight. The former WBC fly champion took part in 26 WBC title fights and lost only two. Strangely four of his five career losses were against Filipinos in Jerry Pahayahay (twice), Sonny Boy Jaro and now Migreno. Only 5 losses in 94 fights, quite a record.

Izegem, Belgium: Light: Jean Pierre Bauwens (26-0-1) W PTS 8 Innocent Anyanwu (21-7-2). Light Middle: Ayoub Nefzi (18-2-1) W PTS 8 Orlando Membreno (11-16-1,2ND). Traditional afternoon show in Izegem sees Bauwens get another win. Bauwens started cautiously but was active enough and very precise to win the first two rounds. Innocent came back in the fight from the third with some dangerous right hand hooks and deserved at least a share of the fourth. Bauwens was back in command from the fifth moving well and scoring with triple left jabs then slowing down his opponent with body shots. Nice work from the local. Anyanwu started to tire and was slow out of his corner for the start of sixth and seventh. However he had enough strength to catch Bauwens with a smashing right to the jaw and the local hero had to cover up for the first two minutes of the round. He was under heavy pressure and in trouble but he showed he had strength, stamina and a lot of courage to survive this scary moment, and fought back to put Anyanwu in trouble in the third minute of a tremendous round. The exhausted Nigerian used all irregular tactics to save time at the start of the last round spitting out his mouthpiece amazingly claiming that it was not his (from who else? The referee, the woman on the first row seat?). The ref took a point away and suddenly Anyanwu’s mouthpiece was in his mouth. It was a hard fought last round and Bauwens won on scores of 78-74, 78-73 and a too wide 80-71. “Junior” Bayens 24, The EBU No 5has wins over Andriy Kudryavtsev and Ryan Barrett and must be near landing a shot at the EBU title. Anyanwu, 34, has lost 6 of his last 7 fights, but there has been some tough opposition along the way in the shape of Ermano Fegatilli, Arash Usmanee and Gary Buckland. Nefezi, 32, gets a deserved win, but ugly. The Tunisian “Prince” was too quick for Membreno using good lateral movement and quick combinations to head and body. However, he also got away with quite a few irregular tactics, but it was Membreno who was deducted points when he retaliated. When Membreno slipped to the canvas in the third Nefzi caught him with a punch when he was down. In anger Membreno then shoved Nefzi hard with his shoulder a lost a point for that. He seemed to receive a kick on the knee in the fourth and again pushed Nefzi hard and again lost a point. The last deduction was in the sixth when Nefzi actually lost a point for as he constantly pushed the Nicaraguan’s head down. In between these incidents it was Nefzi’s fight and he won on points. Scores 79-70 from all three judges. Nefzi’s two losses were to class fighters in Emanuele Della Rosa and Nikola Stevanovic. Now six losses in a row for 31-year-old Membreno

November 2

Schwechat, Austria: Middle: Roberto Santos (18-6-3,1ND) DREW 12 Marcos Nader (16-0-1). Middle: Istvan Szili (17-0) W KO 1 Francesco Di Fiore (14-8-2). Super Middle: Henry Weber (17-1-1) W PTS 8 Sergej Rozvadovskij (5-1-2). In his first defence Santos keeps his European Union title with a deserved majority draw. The fight went as expected with a good start from the challenger and the defending champion coming from behind from round six on. The same pattern as when Santos won the EU title with an upset win over Dominik Britsch in September. Spanish-born, Austrian based Nader, 22, was the smarter and more skilled boxer, using good movement to build a lead and was ahead on all three cards at the end of the sixth. The question then was whether he could last out against the constant pressure of the 31-year-old champion. Over the second half of the fight Nader again used his skill to hold off Santos and was pacing himself for that expected late surge by “The Benidorm Tiger”. After they shared the tenth round Santos, realising he was behind finally got through and had Nader is serious trouble but just could not finish him off. Santos continued his pressure in the twelfth and by this strong finish held on to his title. Scores 114-114 twice and 115-114 for Nader. A good fight and a fair result. After a bad loss over six rounds to novice Luis Crespo in 2011 Santos has really turned his career around with two wins over Britsch and this defence. Nader has excellent boxing skills but only two wins inside the distance puts a question mark over whether he has the power to win the big fights. Hungarian Szili dropped Italian Di Fiore in the first and then finished the fight with a left-right combination in the fourth to put Di Fiore down and out. The 29-year-old “Spartan” makes it seven wins by KO/TKO. He was a three-time national amateur champion and a European Union gold medal winner but may have left it late to turn pro. Di Fiore, 35, loses inside the distance for the first time. Weber, 24, wins a unanimous decision over Lithuanian novice. Second win since losing on points to Robert Stieglitz for the WBO title in January. Rozvadovskij had been inactive since stopping veteran Thomas Ulrich in April 2011.

Bologna, Italy: Middle: Simone Rotolo (35-3) W PTS 10 Lorenzo Cosseddu (28-8-5). Rotolo wins and retains the Italian title in front of his home crowd, but pays a heavy price. He uses a classic jab and counters to score continually on the aggressive challenger. Cosseddu could not hope to win a boxing match so he had to try to get inside. Rotolo injured his left hand on the hard head of Cosseddu in the third. The champion was doing the most of the clean work but Cosseddu was getting through with some rights and Rotolo suffered a bad gash on his left eyebrow. He tried to close the show in the eighth as he landed a series of combinations and it could have easily been a 10-8 round. However, Cosseddu has never lost inside the distance, and he was still there at the final bell. Rotolo wins on scores of 100-90, 99-91 and 98-92. Now eight wins in a row for Rotolo, but he is very prone to cuts around the eyebrows. He was cut badly in winning the title, and again in this fight, and at 36 is said to be considering retiring. Cosseddu also suffered facial damage as he fails in his fourth attempt to win an Italian title.

Kobe, Japan: Super Bantam: Super Bantam: Kohei Oba (32-2-1) W PTS 10 Yuki Murai (20-17-4). Oba took the early rounds outboxing the less talented Murai. However, Murai would not be denied, and he was able to get inside and win rounds with his body punches. Oba came to life again over the closing rounds and did enough to merit the majority decision. Scores 98-93, 96-94 and 95-95. Oba, a former undefeated Japanese champion, has lost twice to Filipinos Malcolm Tunacao and Rolly Matsushita in shots at the OPBF title. The 33-year-old Murai exceeded expectations as he was coming off a one round loss in a challenge for the Japanese bantam title in March.

Hull, England: Light: Tommy Coyle (14-1) W TKO 1 Antonio Joao Bento (24-10-2). Coyle comes out fast and blitzes Bento. A big left hook had Bento in deep trouble and on shaky legs. Another left and a right saw the referee jump in to save Bento. Coyle, 23, wins the vacant WBC International Silver title with only his fifth win inside the distance. His only loss was to Gary Sykes in the Prizefighter. The Portuguese fighter Bento, 36, has had two shots at the EBU title and two at the EU, so he is experienced,

and this was only his third loss inside the distance.

November 3

Halle, Germany: Cruiser: Marco Huck (35-2-1) W PTS 12 Firat Arslan (32-6-2). Light Heavy: Dustin Dirks (26-0) W PTS 12 Cleiton Conceicao (18-5-2). Heavy: Edmund Gerber (22-0) W PTS 8 Darnell Wilson (24-16-3). Light Heavy: Robert Woge (10-0) W TKO 5 Serhiy Demchenko (14-4). Cruiser: David Graf (9-0) W PTS 8 Blanchard Kalambay (3-12-2). A bad night at the office for Huck. The 27-year-old Serbian-born WBO champion retained his title but looked lucky. Arslan had the punch of the fight in his uppercut which constantly shook Huck. The champion was the busier fighter, but many of his shots were inaccurate or picked off by Arslan. The 42-year-old challenger pressed the action just walking through whatever Huck threw at him. Huck had a good seventh round as he found some punching room. However, Huck was being forced to rely on counters with Arslan tending to get his punches off first. Huck did better in the later rounds as he changed his offence and went to the body, but it was Arslan scoring the cleaner shots. Huck used the old tactic of suddenly coming to life in the last ten seconds of each round and those strong finishes may have helped him steal the close rounds. Scores 115-113 twice and a way out 117-111. Tenth defence for 27-year-old Huck. He only just held onto his title with a draw against Ola Afolabi in May. Huck had lost to Alex Povetkin in February and after this performance talk of a fight with Wlad Klitschko seems like a pipe dream. Southpaw Arslan, 42, a former WBA champion, drew with Alex Alekseev for the EBU title in May. He deserves a return, but won’t get it.

A disappointing fight sees Dirks win the vacant WBA Inter-Continental title. The Brazilian was there to survive and he didn’t care how he did it. Dirks got a controversial knockdown in the second but from then on he was frustrated by the negative and dirty tactics employed by Conceicao. The referee took a point away for holding in each of rounds four, eight and eleven and the Brazilian should have been disqualified. When he wasn’t wrestling Conceicao showed some skills enough to edge a couple of rounds, but Dirks was always in front. Scores 120-104, 117-107 and 117-108. Dirks is the WBO No 4, but a more realistic No 7 with the EBU. He is being very carefully matched without a single rated fighter in his list of victims. Brazilian interim champion Conceicao lost inside the distance a couple of times early in his career when he was fighting in Mexico and the USA. Gerber again fails to impress. The unbeaten German had struggled badly against Michael Sprott in his last fight, and showed the same faults again. At the end of the first round Wilson caught Gerber with a left swing. Gerber was staggered and wobbled back to the ropes, but before Wilson could capitalise the bell saved Gerber. From then on Wilson looked and fought like the 38-year-old man he is. Gerber had huge height and reach advantages over the pudgy Wilson and, apart from that carelessness in the first round, was methodical and technically sound, but one paced. Although Wilson showed signs of tiredness from the mid point of the fight he was never really hurt and Gerber did not seem to be able to lift his workrate enough. Scores 79-73 twice and 79-74. At 24 Gerber has time to improve but after 22 fights he has not progressed a great deal. If that left from Wilson had landed earlier in the first round Gerber would not have survived. Wilson has now lost 10 of his last eleven fights and has been beaten inside the distance in 3 of his last 6 fights. Woge just grinds Demchenko down. The German was forcing the pace from the first and his relentless pressure was making Demchenko fight hard for three minutes in every round. This was only Demchenko’s second fight since losing to Karo Murat in over three years, and he just could not stand the pace. In the fifth he was spitting out his gum shield to get a breather but was totally exhausted and taking punishment when the fight was stopped. Nine wins by KO/TKO for Woge. His last six fights have all, ended that way. He won a hatful of titles as an amateur but turned pro when Ismayl Sillakh beat him in the European qualifiers for the 2008 Olympics. With only four rounds of fighting in three years there is no way that the 33-year-old Demchenko was ready for Woge. Graf was also facing an opponent who had not fought for almost four years, but could not put the DRC fighter away. It looked like an early finished when the 23-year-old, 6’3”, Graf decked Kalambay with a left in the first. Kalambay survived and also survived another knockdown in the last as Graf won a wide unanimous decision. Kalambay is without a win in his last eleven fights.

Montreal, Canada: Light Heavy: Lucien Bute (31-1) W PTS 12 Denis Grachev (12-1-1). Light Heavy: Allan Green (32-4) W TKO 7 Renan St Juste (23-4-1). Super Bantam: Rodrigo Guerrero (17-5-1) W TKO 8 Sebastien Gauthier (22-4). Light Middle: Mike Zewski (17-0) W KO 1 Cesar Chavez (20-3). Super Middle: Francy Ntetu (8-0) W PTS 6 Schiller Hyppolite (5-1). Heavy: Bogdan Dinu (8-0) W TKO 4 Eric Martel Bahoeli (7-2). The loss to Carl Froch seems to have taken a bit out of Bute. He won this fight, but made it harder than it needed to be and was not his usual poised self. The fight started badly for Bute as he ended the first round with a cut over his left eye and on the nose. He fought a paced fight not really going all out until the last three rounds. When the fight was centre ring Bute was in control. Boxing beautifully he was spearing Grachev with southpaw rights and left uppercuts. However, the rock-chinned Russian “Pirate” absorbed whatever Bute threw. Too often he was able to take Bute to the ropes where it was Grachev who was the boss. With his more accurate and sharper punches Bute had done enough to win, but was too easy to hit at times. His work tended to be more eye catching with most of Grachev’s work done inside. Bute spent too long on the ropes and that is not where he wants to be if he fights Froch again. Scores 115-113, 116-112 and 118-110. Probably the middle score was the more accurate. Bute wins NABF title. Bad loss for St Juste as Green comes off the floor for stoppage win. The first three rounds were fairly even with Green using his advantages in height and reach, but not really dominating the aggressive St Juste. In the fourth Green found himself on the canvas from a southpaw left from St Juste, but he managed to spoil his way to the end of the round. From then on Green began to utilize his skills to keep St Juste out and, although he seemed to shake Green a couple of times, the Canadian let his work rate drop and he incurred a nose injury that bled profusely and also a swelling by his right eye. It was no surprise when he retired in his corner after the end of the seventh round. “Ghost Dog “Green had failed to make the weight and in addition to his other physical advantages, 6’2” to 5’9”, Green was also 6lbs heavier at the weigh-in, and that gap must have increased by fight time. After losses to Andre Ward, Glen Johnson and Mikkel Kessler at 33 Green could not afford to lose this one. This was St Juste’s first fight since being halted by Anthony Dirrell in December and at 40 it will de difficult for him to come back. Difficult to know why Gauthier’s people chose to fight southpaw Guerrero. He was not your usual travelling Mexican loser having been IBF super fly champion at the start of the year. Guerrero had Gauthier hurt on a number of occasions and, although Gauthier hit back strongly each time, the Mexican was gradually wearing-down the 30-year-old Canadian. The end came in the eighth when Gauthier was floored by a body punch. He got up but Guerrero got through with more shots and the referee stopped the fight. Guerrero’s only losses over the past two years have been against Vic Darchinyan for the WBC/WBA title, Steve Martinez , who he beat in a return to win the vacant IBF title and Juan Carlos Sanchez who took his title away from him. Gauthier’s profile was high after only losing to Steve Molitor on a split decision, but this is his third loss to a Mexican, all by KO/TKO. Prospect Zewski destroys Chavez in just 37 seconds. After landing a jab Zewski threw a right which finished the Mexican. It was quite a while before Chavez was able to regain his feet. The 23-year-old, who represented Canada at the the World Cadet, World Junior and World Senior championships, has 13 wins by KO/TKO with all of his last eight fights ending that way. Chavez is not as good as his record might make out as 15 of his victims had never won a fight. However, his other two losses were against world rated Antonio Lozada and Roberto Ortiz, and neither of those did as quick a job. Ntetu had a tough time with unbeaten Canadian Hyppolite and needed the extra point from a knockdown in the third to win a split decision. Scores 57-56 twice and 56-57. Ntetu, 30, represented the DRC at the 2007 World Championships. Romanian Dinu was always in charge of the fight with Bahoeli. He ended it in the fourth putting Bahoeli down. Bahoeli beat the count, but Dinu was landing heavy shots when the fight was stopped with less than ten seconds to go in the round. The 26-year-old, 6’5” tall, Dinu has five wins by KO/TKO. He was a World Cadet gold medalist and won a bronze medal at the World Junior Championships. Three losses in a row for Canadian Bahoeli.

Sendai, Japan: Bantam: Shinsuke Yamanaka (17-0-2) W KO 7 Tomas Rojas (39-14-1). Fly: Toshiyuki Igarashi (17-1-1) W PTS 12 Nestor Narvaes (19-1-2,1ND). Yamanaka retained his WBC title with a crushing kayo of former WBC super fly champion Rojas. In an all-southpaw fight Yamanaka had to keep pressurising the Mexican who is a clever stylist. He was aided by a punch in the second round which started a swelling by the right eye of Rojas. Lefts from Yamanaka shook Rojas in both the fifth and sixth round. The end came in dramatic fashion in the seventh. A left-right combination from the champion saw Rojas pitch face forward onto the canvas out cold. He was eventually able to leave the ring on shaky legs. Now 12 wins by KO/TKO for 30-year-old Yamanaka. This was his second defence. He won the WBC title with a unanimous decision over Vic Darchinyan in April. After a couple of early career draws he has now won ten twelve fight in a row, ten by KO/TKO. Rojas, 32, had also turned his career around with only two losses in his last 17 fights before this defeat. Igarashi retains his WBC title but nearly snatches defeat from the jaws of victory. After eight rounds he was ahead by three points on all cards with four rounds to go. As he tired and slowed the Argentinian staged a strong enough finish for one judge to score it a draw. Igarashi had come out firing from the bell and, despite losing a point for a clash of heads in the fourth (stupid WBC rule again), he had built a good lead. Igarashi was setting a fast pace, taking the fight to Narvaes, which earned him to that substantial lead at the end of the eighth. From then on Narvaes followed the family tradition set by elder brother Omar and just got stronger over the late rounds. He was walking down Igarashi and landing hard rights on the tiring champion. A clash of heads in the eleventh saw Igarashi cut and again under the WBC rule the uninjured boxer-Narvaes-was deducted a point. That put the win beyond the Argentinian, but he took the last round to make it a very tight majority decision. Scores 114-112 twice and 113-113. First defence for Igarashi of his title he won by beating Filipino Sonny Boy Jaro on a split decision in July. Igarashi represented Japan at both the 2004 Olympics and the 2005 World Championships in the 48kg category. For 30-year-old Narvaes (not sure why he is an ...es, and his brother is an ...ez) despite his No 7 rating with the WBC this was a big jump up in class as none of his previous opponents had been rated. However he justified that rating with this performance and on this basis will almost certainly get another title fight shot in 2013.

Entre Rios, Argentina: Bantam: Roberto Vasquez (32-5-1) DREW 12 John Mark Apolinario (17-2-2). Super Feather: Israel Perez (24-2-1) W TKO 3 Orlen Padilla (19-4-1). Super Feather: Fernando Saucedo (47-5-3) W TKO 5 Cris Palma (18-7-1). Welter: Cesar Velez (12-3-1) W TKO 3 Azael Cosio (15-1-2.1ND). The interim WBA title remains vacant after this draw. A contrast in style saw Vasquez take the centre of the ring and force the fight with Apolinario circling and scoring with counters. Both fighters had their moments in a close fight. Vasquez was scoring well with body and head shots, and Apolinario was countering with rights. Vasquez was the busier with Apolinario only letting his hands go in burst and when he did get through with those rights hard he did not really follow up on his attacks. Typically Apolinario had a good start to the sixth landing with rights to the chin, but again he allowed the Panamanian southpaw back into the fight. Apolinario staged a strong finish having Vasquez almost out on his feet in the eleventh but again failed to grab the opportunity. The Filipino won the last two rounds but failed to convince the judges that he had won the fight. Scores 114-114 twice and 115-113. Former WBA light fly champion Vasquez, 29, WBA No 2, a former WBA light fly and interim WBA fly champion, was looking for a third division title and you can be sure he will get another chance. Apolinario, 22, is WBA No 3, so he too will get another shot. Perez crushes Colombian and only poor refereeing lets it go to three rounds. The Argentinian established his jab early in the first and a right cross sent Padilla to the ropes. Perez moved in and landed a right which put Padilla down. When Padilla got up Perez landed a barrage of punches and the referee stepped in and applied a standing count. The Colombian lasted to the bell. In the second another right had Padilla on shaky legs and the referee again gave the Colombian a standing count. Near the end of the round another right from Perez put Padilla down again. All of the fight had long since gone out of Padilla and the fight should have been stopped, but Padilla saw it out to the bell. The pain continued in the third until a right and two body shots finally made the referee stop the fight. Perez, 33, who represented Argentina at the 2000 Olympics, was 2-2 in four fights in the USA in 2002/3. Since then he has stayed at home and is unbeaten in his last 16 fights. Padilla, 26, has only lost to good fighters, his previous losses being to Likar Ramos, Daulis Prescott and Dante Jardon. Saucedo wins vacant WBC Latino title with easy win over modest Chilean. Saucedo started slowly but by the third round it was a one-sided fight. In the fifth a right to the jaw had Palma staggering but the bell came before Saucedo could follow up. He handed out more punishment in the sixth. In the seventh a right saw the Chilean go down on one knee. He got up but was floored by a left and the referee stopped the fight without bothering to count to ten. IBF No 4 Saucedo, 31, lost on points to Chris John for the WBA feather title in 2010, his only loss in his last 33 fights, but the opposition has been mediocre at best and that ranking flatters him. Palma is typical of the opposition Saucedo has beaten as he makes it five visits to Argentina and five losses. A short, but brutal fight sees Velez halt Panamanian Cosio to win the vacant WBA Fedlatin title. The Argentinian had the favoured Cosio down in the first from a right to the temple. Although Cosio got up and was fighting back at the end of the round he had also suffered a bad cut on his right eyebrow. Cosio took over in the second scoring with hard rights. A butt from Velez saw the referee take a point away. These two staged a war at the start of the third, but the cut had worsened and after an examination by the Doctor the fight was stopped. Second good win for Velez, 26, who beat former IBF title challenger Rodolfo Martinez in September. “Turbo” Cosio, 31, had looked to be getting on top in the fight so could consider himself unlucky. This loss broke a seven win streak for Cosio. The fight was promoted by Sampson Lewkowicz and Sergio Martinez.

Anaheim, USA: Light Welter: Frankie Gomez (13-0) W KO 3 Manuel Leyva (21-9). Light: Jamie Kavanagh (12-0-1) W PTS 8 Ramon Valadez (11-3). After exactly eleven months out of the ring Gomez again showcases his enormous talent. He gave the experienced Leyva a serious beating in the first two rounds and then floored the Mexican southpaw three times in the third. Still only 20, Gomez was World Cadet champion, US champion and a World Championships silver medalist-he lost to 2012 Olympics champion Roniel Iglesias at the World. He has ten wins by KO/TKO. A future champion-if he can keep out of trouble outside the ring. Leyva not a tough test. The 30-year-old’s career has imploded. He has gone from 20-1 to 21-9 after losing after losing 8 of his last 9 fights. World Junior silver medalist Kavanagh won a thrilling punch fest with a unanimous decision over Valadez. The 22-year-old Dubliner and the Californian were both trading heavy punches from the first with both fighters rocked on many occasions. In a wild third both fighters were reeling from heavy punches in turn. The fight was won by Californian-based Kavanagh from the fifth as in that, and the remaining rounds, he started to box more and put the fight beyond the reach of Valadez. Scores 80-72, 79-73 and 78-74. The winner and the loser both boosted their stock with this exciting scrap.

Humble, Texas: Middle: Fernando Guerrero (25-1) W TKO 6 Juan Carlos Candelo (32-12-4). Middle: J’Leon Love (14-0) W TKO 6 Tyrone Selders (8-4). Guerrero halts Colombian veteran in one-side fight. Guerrero was just too young and too fast for Candelo. The 26-year-old southpaw was getting through with his jab and hurting Candelo with left crosses. A quick combination put Candelo down in the fourth, but Guerrero just could not land a finisher. The punishment continued in the fifth with Candelo’s corner threatening to pull their guy out unless he changed the pattern of the fight. That was beyond Candelo, and when another right cross had Candelo reeling the referee stopped the fight. Now 19 wins by KO/TKO for the Dominican. He was derailed by a stoppage loss to Grady Brewer in June 2011, but has now on four in a row, and is WBC No 9. The 38-year-old Texas-based Candelo suffered only his second loss by KO/TKO. The former NABF champion lost to “Winky” Wright for the IBF light middle title in 2003 but is now far past his best. Michigan prospect Love had no real trouble with Selders. The 25-year-old was too quick and after an early effort from Selders blew itself out it was really just target practice for the promising youngster. A right in the sixth staggered Selders and brought the referee’s intervention. Former top amateur Love is based in Las Vegas where he often spars with Floyd Mayweather Jr. First loss inside the distance for Selders.

Hermosillo, Mexico: Light Fly: Ulises Solis (35-2-3) W KO 7 Jesus Iribe (16-8-5). Super Feather: Oscar Valdez (0-0) W TKO 2 Angel Prado (1-2). “Archie” Solis returns with a win, but Iribe makes it a tough night for the IBF champion in this non-title fight. Solis put Iribe down in the second, but Iribe got up, took the fight to Solis and staggered Solis with hard head shots. Both fighters were trading punches up to the sixth when Solis took Iribe to the ropes and bombarded him with combinations to head and body. Iribe fought his way out but his resistance was cracking. Solis closed the show in the seventh with a body punch which put Iribe down and he was counted out. First fight for 31-year-old Solis since beating Jether Oliva in a title fight in August 2011. He has been recovering from facial injuries allegedly caused by Saul Alvarez in a street attack. Iribe has had shots at the IBF, WBC and WBO light fly titles losing them all on points. I don’t usually mention four round fights but this was the first pro fight for double Olympian Oscar Valdez and it has been publicised as if it were the second coming. They gave Valdez a very easy first job and he got it over quite quickly. After a round of studying Prado the 21-year-old Valdez floored Prado heavily. He beat the count but a few more punches from Valdez were enough for the fight to be stopped. Valdez won a bundle of titles as an amateur. The highlights were a gold medal at the World Youth Championships, a bronze at the World Championships, a gold at the Central American and Caribbean Championships, a silver at the Pan American Games. He represented Mexico at both the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, the first Mexican boxer to compete in two Olympics, losing in London to John Joe Nevin. You will hear a lot about senor Valdez in future.

Tokyo, Japan: Light Welter: Shinya Iwabuchi (20-3) W KO 7 Shinya Nagase (20-5-2). Iwabuchi retains his Japanese title with kayo of former champ Nagase. Now 16 wins by KO/TKO for southpaw Iwabuchi. After losing his first two fights he has now lost only one of his last 21. Nagase, 30, the No 4 rated contender, suffers only his second loss inside the distance.

Mexico City, Mexico: Feather: Romulo Koasicha (18-2) W PTS 12 Mario Macias (24-9,1ND). Koasicha retains WBC US title with a majority decision over Macias. Koasicha got the better start and by the second Macias was fighting with a badly damaged nose which would leak blood for the rest of the fight. Koasicha looked to be coasting to victory but was badly hurt in the eleventh and only just survived the round. He took the last to win on scores of 116-112, 115-112 and 114-114. Macias had challenged Koki Kameda for the secondary WBA title in December and had also faced world rated fighters Daniel Rosas, Jhonatan Romero and Giovanni Caro, so it was a step up in opposition for Koasicha.

Windhoek, Namibia: Bantam: Immanuel Naidjala (16-0) W TKO 4 Shabani Kilumbelumbe (10-4-1). Light: Samuel Kapapu (12-6) W PTS 10 Peter Malakia (11-10-1). “The Prince” Naidjala impresses with kayo of Tanzanian. Naidjala got through with some good shots in the first three rounds, but Kilumbelumbe stood up well and responded with some combinations of his own. However, Naidjala had the power and in the fourth he landed a volley of punches which put the Tanzanian down. He got up but a left hook then put him down for the ten count. Third defence of his interim WBO African title for the Namibian. Holding that title gets him an inflated rating at No 8 from the WBO. Second loss inside the distance for the Tanzanian who is 3-3 in his last six fights. Kapapu goes 3-1 ahead in his series with Malakia, and retains the Namibian title, but this was a tough, close fight. Kapapu built a lead with a body attack only to be nailed in the fifth by a left hook from Malakia which had him in trouble. Kapapu survived and reestablished his lead. In the ninth Malakia nearly pulled it out of the fire again as he floored Kapapu with a left. Kapapu got up and was fighting back at the bell. Scores 96-94, 96-93 and 97-92. Kapapu had won the national title by stopping Malakia in two rounds in September.

Tacoma, USA: Welter: Vitaliy Demyanenko (22-0) W PTS 10 Damian Frias (19-6-1). Demyanenko remains unbeaten but only just. The Kazakh southpaw needed a seventh round knockdown to help him edge out the 36-year-old Cuban southpaw. Scores 95-94 twice and 97-92. Demyanenko, 29, was inactive from May 2010 to March this year, so has some catching up to do. Two losses in a row for Frias after losing a wide points verdict against Carlos Molina in August.

Zamora, Mexico: Middle: Bruno Sandoval (10-0) W KO 5 Eduardo Tercero (8-3). Sandoval “The Shark” cleaned up his record by flattening the only fighter to have taken him the distance. Sandoval had the better of the first three rounds and got through with heavy punches from both hands in the fourth. In the fifth a thunderous left put Tercero down. He made it to his feet but a right put him down and out. Nine wins by KO/TKO for prospect Sandoval who wins the WBC US title. First loss inside the distance for former Mexican light middle champion Tercero.

Dublin, Ireland: Super Feather: Anthony Cacace (5-0) W TKO 1 Mickey Coveney (13-18). Cacace, 23, wins Irish title in only his fifth fight as he nails experienced Coveney with an uppercut and forces the finish. The former top amateur has three wins by KO/TKO. Southpaw Coveney, 30, was making the first defence of the title he won last

year.

November 5

Moscow, Russia: Super Middle: Max Vlasov (24-1) W PTS 10 Khoren Gevor (32-9). Light: Alisher Rahimov (25-1) W PTS 10 Michal Dufek (9-2-1). WBC No 9 Vlasov wins wide unanimous decision over a sliding Gevor. Scores 100-90 twice and 99-91. Five wins in a row for Vlasov since lone defeat against Isaac Chilemba in February 2011. The 26-year-old Russian retains WBC Baltic title.Former European Gevor has failed in four world title shots and has now lost 5 of his last fights. Easy night for Uzbek Rahimov as he wins every round against Czech Dufek. The 35-year-old Rahimov, re-buildong after loss to Ji-Hoon Kim in Maywins on scores of 100-89,100-90 and 99-91 with Dufek losing a point in the ninth for holding.